


Miss missing you

by artsyleo



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Mitchell Loves Callum "Halfway" Highway, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, It's one big ball of angst with a big fluffy surprise at the end, M/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23616760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsyleo/pseuds/artsyleo
Summary: Three times Callum and Ben missed each other, and one time they didn't have to.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 14
Kudos: 84





	Miss missing you

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning - in parts 1 and 2 there are some pretty heavy mentions of anxiety/ptsd. If either of these might trigger you, please just skip them. I've indicated each part with a number.

1

The house felt so empty and lonely without Callum’s stupid big grin, and his lanky legs, and- fuck, Ben just missed him. The house itself certainly wasn’t empty- Ben was at the Mitchells’, lumped in with Lexi, Jay and Lola (they decided that having Ben and Ian stuck in the same house together for an indeterminate amount of weeks would only end in absolute disaster). After days of argument about it, they’d also decided that it was best for Ben to isolate with Lexi- but that meant being away from Callum. He was staying together with Stuart and Rainie, as they were all classed as key workers (what with Stuart and Rainie taking over the funeral parlour and Callum training as a nurse) and they wanted to keep the risk to Lexi as small as possible. Logically, it made sense, but Ben was determined not to admit that- the idea of being away from Callum for so long, after everything that had happened recently, made dread burn deep in his stomach. He didn’t dare voice that feeling, though- the badly-disguised look of disappointment on Callum’s face when they talked about it was enough to break anyone’s heart, but he had agreed that it was for the benefit of everyone’s safety.

That didn’t make the separation any easier though.

Most days, Ben was left with very little to do. Him and Lola took it in turns to tutor Lexi (although, admittedly, he had very little to offer the intelligent little girl), and on his days off, he was mostly resigned to his bedroom, watching some random show on Netflix. Callum had left him with Ben’s favourite grey hoodie of his, and a bottle of his aftershave, so Ben spent most of those days with that clutched tight to him like a safety blanket. He didn’t dare admit to anyone in the house just how much he missed Callum, mostly because he didn’t want to subject himself to the teasing that it would inevitably result in. They stayed in contact still- Callum would send him little titbits of information about his day every so often, to which ben would reply with plenty of his usual quick comebacks and sarcastic comments. It helped a little- despite the distance, and the fact that they hadn’t seen each other face to face in over 3 weeks (3 weeks, 2 days and 6 hours, not that Ben was counting at all), their back-and-forth banter did help Ben to feel a little less alone.

Unfortunately, Ben soon realised that Callum was like a lifeline to Ben- as much as he hated to admit it sometimes, he relied on Callum, and the comfort that the other man gave him, to stay sane.

-

*

Everything around Ben was dark, and he couldn’t hear anything, bar the shrill ringing in his ears that hadn’t stopped since the boat crash. He could feel vibrations under his feet, indicating that there was nose coming from somewhere, but there was no way of telling where. He was aware only of his need for Callum- the only problem was that he had no way of telling where the older man was. Ben quickly ran forward, but slammed quickly into a wall. When he turned back around, suddenly he was back there- he recognised the damp smell of his surroundings and the hopeless need that filled his gut. He was back in the warehouse.

Except, it wasn’t the same was last time. He ran around frantically, but it was as if every turn led onto the same part- he was going around in circles, helpless, his heart pounding. When he turned the corner again, he almost turned back, until he could see a body in front of him; a man’s body- a tall one, with fluffy brown hair and big comforting hands. A body covered by a blue suit that he had helped pick out that morning, once pristine and well pressed, now dirtied and ripped by the floor. Ben almost let out a sigh of relief, running towards his boyfriend, until-

The body tuned over, and Callum’s eyes fell open, fear frozen in dead eyes.

*

As soon as Ben shot awake, bile was palpable in his throat. He stumbled quickly down the corridor and just about made it to the toilet before he threw up all of what he’d eaten that day. His whole body was shaking, and he couldn’t tear that image of Callum’s lifeless body from the back of his eyelids. He couldn’t find it in him at that point to care who he might be waking up as he let out a pathetic whimper into the toilet. Hopefully he’d been loud enough to alert Calum-

Except, of course; they were in quarantine. Callum was in another building, across the other side of the square, probably blissfully unaware of Ben’s turmoil. He couldn’t hold back the sob that shook his body tat that thought- he’d always been particularly needy after nightmares, and right now he just needed to know that Callum was okay-

A gentle hand on his back made him flinch hard. He whipped himself around, only to see the concerned face of Lola standing over him, and Lexi standing behind, holding a teddy to her chest, worry across her face. Ben didn’t have the chance to wipe the emotion before Lola was aware, so instead he just let out another whimper, too tired to restrain himself. Lola turned and said something to Lexi, who nodded determinedly and ran off to God-knows-where. Ben silently thanked Lola for that- he wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of crying in front of his daughter. Lola kneeled on the floor carefully and reached for some paper, which she then wiped across Ben’s mouth carefully. Ben thought he said something along the lines of ‘I’m not a baby’, but it had no real conviction behind it- he was too exhausted to fight Lola now, especially when she was just trying to help him.

‘Nightmare?’ she signed at him, once she had sat on the cold floor opposite.

(Lexi had insisted that they should spend the quarantine learning sign language in order to ‘impress daddy Callum when he can come back’. The statement had melted Ben’s heart so much that he had no choice but to agree)

Ben nodded in response. “Was ‘bout Callum.”

Sympathy filled Lola’s face then – as discreet as Ben had thought he was being about missing his boyfriend, Lola had quickly picked up on it. Ben closed his eyes just for a minute then, but as soon as he did, that image of Callum was back from the nightmare, making his eyes shot open again, and all the air leave his lungs for a minute.

“N-need to see him, Lo. I need to s-see him.” Ben muttered out, attempting to push himself off the floor. Lola lay a soft hand on his arm in a attempt to halt his movements, and shook her head.

‘Sorry’, she signed, stroking her other hand up and down Ben’s arm. More unpermitted tears dripped from is eyes then- he was just so tired, and he just needed to see him, to know that he was okay-

As soon as Ben saw Lexi stumbling back towards the bathroom, he wiped a hand harshly across his eyes, attempting to hide what had happened from Lexi. When she came around the corner, however, he couldn’t stop the tears of relief that ran down his cheeks.

She was holding out the laptop, almost as big as her own chest, and Callum’s concerned face was staring back at him from it. He quickly took the laptop from Lexi, who quickly signed ‘I love you’ to Ben.

“I love you too, princess,” Ben whispered back, smiling to his daughter. He looked towards Lola then, who had a proud look on her face. She nodded at Ben, and then got up to lead their daughter out of the room. He turned back to Callum on the screen.

‘Are you okay?’ Callum signed, which made Ben smirk a little despite the situation- of course he’d been spending his spare time learning sign language too.

“Had a nightmare, ‘bout you and- Keanu,” Ben shuddered slightly. That name still sent a shot of anger through him. “Needed to know you were okay.”

Callum smiled sympathetically back at Ben. He spoke slowly and carefully, to allow Ben to read his lips, signing the odd word that he knew. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m okay, I promise. Miss you though."

Ben felt another tear roll down his cheeks. “Miss you, Cal.”

‘Don’t be sad,’ Callum signed, which made Ben giggle slightly. He carefully moved his hands away from the laptop, resting it on his knees.

‘I love you,’ Ben signed, hands shaking, but not nearly as much as they had been when he had woken up. Callum smiled and signed the same three words back to him. Then, his eyebrow rose mischievously, and he made a ‘wait’ gesture to the camera, before pulling out his phone. A minute later, a vibration from Ben’s back pocket signalled a text.

Callum - How about we make use of this skype call in a slightly different way? ;) X

Ben let out a laugh at that before nodding towards the camera. Of course Callum would know exactly how to cheer him up.

2

It wasn’t the first time it had happened, but it was the first without Ben by his side. Ever since he’d returned from his last tour, nightmares had plagued him, filling his dreams with gunshots and the scent of blood on dusty ground. He’d tried his best to hide it from Whitney, and to some extent he had succeeded- she never did discover just how much he’d been affected by the army. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t hide from Ben. However deep he buried his emotions, Ben had this way of knowing exactly what was going on, and knowing just how to address Callum’s fears in the best way. They’d talked about it after a particularly bad night, and Callum had promised not to hide from Ben- “I’m your boyfriend,” he had said. “And I just want to help you.”

It had only gotten worse since the kidnapping. Callum hadn’t bothered to mention it to anyone- Ben had enough on his plate already, what with losing his brother and his hearing in one day, so he didn’t need Callum’s problems too. Yet, Ben had soon picked up on it, and had confronted Callum. They’d been meaning to get Callum a therapist, but the lockdown had been announced too soon.

He hated to admit it, but the thought of spending that much time away from Ben sent a shot of fear through him. They’d talked it all over with Lola and Jay, but Callum couldn’t bear to voice the real reason why he didn’t want to be away from Ben for that long. He had recognised that things had been getting worse recently – he’d been having more nightmares, and it took increasingly less to trigger him. Really, the thought of not having Ben there to comfort him, on the off chance that something did happen- it terrified him.

But he had to be a solider about this. He had to do his job, help people- there was no way he could turn his back now. Walford General had been begging for volunteers, and what with Callum starting his introductory course, and with his army medical training, however limited, he couldn’t say no. There was a part of him that was glad of the distraction- he spent most of his day working, and then pretty much slept (or attempted to) for the rest of it. Stuart and Rainie were in and out of the house sporadically, what with the funeral parlour becoming busier by the day. Mostly, he just felt alone- he’d started to build a somewhat tentative relationship with some of the other trainees at the hospital, but when he came home, it was often to an empty house, and always to an empty bed. Him and Ben had exchanged hoodies before they parted, which Callum slept with close to his chest every night, but he couldn’t help but miss the other man’s big personality, and sarcastic nature and bright, loud laugh- fuck, he missed him.

-

It happened on a Tuesday.

He’d been granted the miracle of a slightly shorter shift that day, so, after returning to the flat and showering, he set to work on pulling together whatever he could for a meal for three. This would be the first time in about a week that he’d actually managed to catch Stuart and Rainie, between long shifts and not enough sleep, so he was determined to make something nice as a surprise.

The day hadn’t been an easy one. He’d been out of the house for a shift starting at 6am, and Stuart had been in an unexplainably bad mood. He’d been rushed off his feet all day, and right now he just wanted to see Ben.

He’d just sat down with a beer in his hand when it started- little bangs, rattling through the street, catching Callum by surprise. The first few came alone, so Callum almost settled again, thinking that his over-tired brain had just conjured up the sound. But then it came again, this time without stopping- loud crashes, one after the other, sounding loudly through the square outside the window. He should have noticed at that point that it wasn’t screams that accompanied the bangs but loud cheers, but Callum was already falling deep into a flashback. Memories of bomb raids and injured civilians, the smell of blood on dusty tarmac and the sound of children crying, hopeless and terrified. When he turned, it wasn’t the rest of the apartment that greeted him, but smoke and broken buildings, camouflage-clad soldiers running out of bunkers to find the threat. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, but it was as though he couldn’t move- frozen to the spot, helpless as people ran around him. There was some part of him that knew this was just a flashback - he wasn’t really back there, in the midst of it all – but that didn’t stop the fear and dread from filling him. He couldn’t bring himself back, because the sound of crashing and banging still came from all around him, assaulting his senses. It felt as though all of the air had left his lungs- nothing would pass in or out, and he couldn’t seem to stop his heart from racing so fast. He brought his hands up to bury themselves in his hair, tugging desperately at the strands, hopelessly trying to bring himself back to the apartment, but it was no use. Normally, when something like this happened, he had Ben here to help him, ground him, but right now, he was helplessly alone.

There were shouts from all around him, voices of other soldiers passing orders to one another, but Callum couldn’t move, couldn’t help, despite the adrenaline flowing through his veins. Someone was shouting his name from behind him, and the vice felt painfully familiar. He turned around, shaking, only to see his face staring back at him, pleading.

“Halfway,” Chris said. “Callum, come on, please, you’ve gotta listen to me. You ain’t safe.”

Callum tried desperately to say something back, anything, but his voice wouldn’t work. Chris kept looking around them, then grabbed Callum’s hand desperately. Callum flinched heavily, and for a minute he was back in the apartment, someone else’s hand around his wrist. He tore his hand away, moving away as far as he could. Then Chris came back.

“Come on, Callum, please. It’s just me,” he said. “Please listen to me.”

Then, with a desperately sad look on his face, Chris turned away, retreating back into the smoke that had encompassed them.

“C-Chris please, don’t-don’t leave me,” Callum whimpered back, trying desperately to pull the other man back. Before he could move much further forward, he hit a solid mass, stopping him from moving any further. He fought against it, reaching towards the retreating man. Before he could say anything else, though, there was a painfully familiar voice in his ear.

“Baby? Callum, listen to me. I’m right here, okay? It’s okay, I’m right here.”

Ben. That was Ben’s voice. Ben was talking to him. He stopped struggling then, instead leaning on the mass in front of him.

“B-Ben?” he said, fear in his voice.

“Baby, open your eyes for me, please? You need to look at me, I can’t understand you.” There was guilt in the voice in his ear. Callum forced his heavy eyelids open, his eyes darting around to take in his surroundings. Everything was a lot quieter now, the curtains drawn and the banging noise no longer disrupting his thoughts. The coffee table was overturned beside him, and broken glass covered the carpet on the other side. Rainie was stood on the other side of the room, hands covering her mouth, tears in her eyes. He moved his head slightly, realising that he now lay on the floor, with Stuart knelt beside him, genuine fear and concern filling his face. He went to sit up, before Ben’s voice filled his ears again.

“Hey, you- over here. Just stay on the floor for a minute, yeah?”

He turned his head to the other side to find Ben’s face staring back at him, tears on his cheeks, through the screen of his old laptop. He caught sight of himself in the reflection of the screen. His hair was mussed up, and tears stained his cheeks. His eyes were red and puffy, and there was blood coming from his lip, which was bitten raw. Someone, presumably Stuart, had placed the pair of headphones that Ben had bought him across his head- after this had happened the first time, Ben had given them to him with a shy smile, saying that they were supposed to help reduce noise. The gift had been heart-wrenchingly sweet at the time, even though there was a part of Callum that was embarrassed to need them.

“Be-Ben?” Callum said. His voice was still shaky and quiet, and his head was pounding.

“Hey, baby. You’re alright, I’m right here. Do you remember what happened?” Ben said softly. Callum shook his head, embarrassed.

“I think you had a flashback episode, Cal. Your brother called me, said you were out of it.”

“Ben, ‘m sorry fo-for worryin’ you-“

“Don’t you dare start apologising, alright?” Ben replied, with no real venom behind his voice, just firm instruction. “This ain’t your fault, okay?”

Callum nodded and yawned, suddenly too exhausted to argue.

“You tired, baby?” Ben asked, his voice soft.

“Yeah, but- don’t want you to go,” Callum replied.

“I ain’t going anywhere, okay? Let Stuart help you to bed, you still look a bit shaky, then you can relax, okay?” Ben said, the smile betraying the worry in his eyes. Callum turned to his brother, who looked almost as exhausted as he felt. He held his hand out to Callum, hauling him carefully onto shaky legs, off the floor. Once Callum was stood up, he reached over to pick up the laptop, and placed his arm around Callum’s shoulder as they walked in the direction of his bedroom.

“Thank you,” Callum whispered to Stuart, as he situated himself under the covers of his bed, the laptop laying on the pillow that would normally be occupied by Ben.

“Don’t worry about it, bruv. I love ya, alright? Get some sleep,” Stuart said, before pulling the door closed. Callum turned back to the laptop, and slid the headphones back into place.

“Hey, I’m in bed,” he said, smiling at Ben.

“You feeling any better?” Ben replied.

“Little less shaky. God, I can’t even remember what happened. I think I broke a bottle-“ Callum worried, shifting as if to pull himself out of bed.

“Hey, don’t do that. Your brother’ll take care of it. You just get some rest, alright?”

“Miss you bein’ here, Ben,” Callum replied, looking longingly at the man on the other side of the screen.

Ben’s breath caught. “I miss you too, babe. So much, but hopefully it won’t be for too much longer, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Callum said, his eyelids starting to droop. He brought his hands out from under the covers, and signed ‘I love you’ towards the camera.

“I love you too. Get some sleep, Cal. I’m right here.”

3

As soon as the text came through on his phone, he couldn’t help the giddy feeling rising in him.

Callum – Go to the door, you’ve got a surprise :)

He felt like a kid on Christmas then, almost skipping towards the front door. Callum was, without a doubt, one of the most romantic people that Ben knew, and he didn’t hesitate to spoil Ben rotten whenever he could. Whether it was with little gifts whenever he went into town, or big, fancy dates, Callum loved to spoil his boyfriend – and, Ben had to admit, he wasn’t exactly averse to being spoilt. So when Callum texted him, late that dark, Wednesday evening that there was a ‘surprise’ waiting for him at the front door, he couldn’t help but get excited. He rushed to the front door and pulled it open. A delivery man stood at the bottom of the street and gave Ben a cursory nod, before moving on. At his feet on the doorstep was a bouquet of simple blue flowers, ones that Ben couldn’t even hope to name, all carefully brought together with ribbon. Tied to the bottom was a little note-

Missing you x

Thought these would match your eyes :)

Callum <3

He picked them up carefully from the doorstep, and felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket again.

Callum – Can see you out the window. Hope you like them :)

He looked up and sure enough, Callum was stood, grinning like a maniac from the window of his flat over the square. He quickly typed a message back.

Ben – You romantic bastard. I love you x

He looked up just in time to see Callum blow him a kiss from the window and wave.

-

(A.N. I have no idea if you can actually see Callum’s flat from the Mitchells’ because I still can’t figure out the geography of the square. Just go with me on this one.)

-

Callum had just gotten out of the shower after his shift when he heard his phone buzz from the table. He guessed it would probably be Stuart- since he’d witnessed Callum’s episode last week, he’d been constantly checking up on his brother. Yet, when Callum picked his phone up, it notified him of a text from Ben.

Ben – Stuck a little something extra in your food delivery. Hope you like it ;)

He laughed at that, joy warming his heart quickly- any message from Ben did that these days. Due to everyone in the small flat having very little time on their hands, between the hospital and the funeral parlour, Ben had agreed to do their food shopping whenever he could. He had a tendency to slip in little things that he thought Callum would like, as well as the essentials he had asked for. As much as he hated being away from Ben, it really did bring out the hopeless romantic in both of them. Once he’d pulled a t-shirt over his head, he ran down the stairs, throwing open the front door. The usual shopping bags lay on the doorstep, but excitement pumped through Callum, wondering what Ben had done. He quickly shifted all of the bags up the stairs of the flat and unpacked everything carefully. It was once he got to the last bag that he noticed. Inside were the ingredients for Callum’s chicken pasta (something that he used to cook for the two of them on a regular basis) as well as a bottle of wine and a small bunch of white and yellow flowers. His phone vibrated with another message, which he quickly checked, grinning when he read it.

Ben – Skype date night @ 6? Got myself the same stuff, bar the flowers, obviously. Hope you’re not too tired x

Warmth filled his stomach as he typed out a reply.

Callum – You lovely little shit. I’m never too tired for you- see you at 6 babe <3

+1

Ben didn’t think he’d ever gotten up this early in his life. The sun was just about rising past the Vic across the road, illuminating the square in a soft morning glow. Lexi was excitedly bouncing around the house, and had been since they’d announced it on the news last night- as of 6am this morning, the quarantine was over. Ben wasn’t far off following in his daughter’s footsteps- childlike, excited energy had been coursing through him for hours at the thought of finally seeing Callum again, face to face. There were so many things that he wanted to say, but more than anything, he just wanted to feel Callum’s soft lips against his again, feel the other man’s big hands on his face, caressing his cheeks-

Ben was torn out of his daydream by the sight outside the window. A few people had come out onto the street- he could just about make out Mick across the square, throwing open the door of the Vic with a big grin across his face. He didn’t stay to watch any more once he’d seen the face that he’d so sorely missed- Callum, still dressed in a hoodie and what looked suspiciously like Ben’s bottoms, actually skipping out of the front of the funeral parlour, followed by Stuart and Rainie.

He felt himself laugh giddily, but he didn’t care enough to stop it as he followed Lexi as she ran down the stairs and out the back door onto the square. Their neighbours had come out onto the street, presumably to attempt to say hello, but Ben ran straight past, aiming for the building across the street that he’d been glaring longingly at for the past weeks. Callum quickly clocked him, and started running towards Ben himself. They collided together with a laugh in the middle of the square, Ben pressing his lips against Callum’s needily. Callum’s big hands came up to Ben’s face, pressing over his ears, his thumbs stroking Ben’s cheeks. It was everything that Ben had missed for so long, all at once.

Callum pulled away all too soon, but he had this look on his face- this happy, yet mischievous look that promised Ben that there was something else, something better. Before Ben could say anything, Callum took his chin and tilted it towards his other hand. Carefully, as if he was unsure whether Ben would understand it, he signed out the phrase that made Ben’s heart stop in his chest, just a little.

It was a phrase that he had shyly insisted that Lexi teach him weeks ago; a phrase that had been non-stop bouncing around his brain for just as long.

Marry me?

All of the breath left Ben’s lungs then as he felt tears fill his eyes; for the first time in weeks, they were happy tears.

“How could I possibly say no?”

The look of uncensored glee that crossed Callum’s face almost made everything else worth it. He could see the tears beginning to well up in Callum’s eyes, in a similar way to how he was sure he now looked. Before Ben could say anything else, though, Callum reached a hand into his pocket. From it, he produced a small black box that fit perfectly into his palm, velvet covering the top. Before long, he could feel a deep blush covering his cheeks. He suddenly went shy as Callum’s eyes bore into him. He looked down at the small box, and popped it open carefully. Inside, on the cushion lay a simple silver band, thick with a single line through the middle. Shaking hands went to pick it carefully out of the box, and an engraving on the inside caught his eye. A small heart was engraved into the silver- ever since they’d had the news about Ben’s hearing; Callum had been telling him that he loved him through a soft finger on his skin, drawing small hearts into it. If Ben hadn’t been speechless before, he certainly was now- no one had ever done anything like this for him before.

He heard the muffled sounds of Callum saying something, and he looked back up, only to see nerves painted across Callum’s face. ”You like it?” he said again, this time clear enough for Ben to read his lips.

Ben wrapped his hand around the back of Callum’s neck, bringing him in for a soft kiss.

“I love it. I love you,” Ben said softly, once he pulled away. A blush quickly climbed up the other man’s cheeks, looking down at his feet shyly. Carefully, he took the ring from Ben and winked at him. Before Ben could ask what he had planned, Callum smiled, and dropped one knee to the floor, holding the ring out in front of him. Ben couldn’t help but let out a laugh. For his whole life, he’d wanted something normal like this- a normal relationship, one that didn’t end in arguments, or tears, or blood stained streets; just one full of love, and support. He wanted normality, when his life had been anything but.

So when Callum got on one knee in the middle of the street, where people could no doubt see them, he didn’t have it in him to feel embarrassed- right then, it felt so right. Like a big ‘fuck you’ to anyone who had told him that he couldn’t have this. Here he was- Ben Mitchell, being proposed to. And nothing felt better.

“You fucking dork,” Ben said, laughing as he nodded at his boyfriend- fiancé, who was grinning back mischievously. He gently slid the ring onto Ben’s finger, and kissed his knuckle, before standing back up to press another kiss to Ben’s lips. As they pulled away, he heard a muffled sound from behind him and turned around, just in time for a blur of pink-dressing-gown to plough into his legs. Laughing, he took Lexi into his arms and rested her on his hip. She started talking at a mile a minute, which made a shot of embarrassment hit him. Before he could say anything though, Callum rested a soft hand on the small of his back and said something to Lexi. She nodded quickly and looked apologetically at him.

‘Sorry,’ she signed. ‘Married? Can I be flower girl?’

Ben laughed at that- of course Lexi would have already had this all planned out. She adored Callum, almost as much as Ben did, albeit not in the same way.

“Of course you can, baby. Might want to let us plan the wedding first, he only asked a minute ago,” he said, looking over at Callum. The man looked totally blissed out, a blush still sat high on his cheeks.

“What do you think, mister? Flower girl material right here?” Ben said, grinning.

“Most definitely,” Callum smiled, leaning in to kiss Ben again. As they pulled away, Callum started to look around, laughing. Ben did the same, staring at the crowd that they’d begun to draw on the square. Stuart and Rainie were still stood by the funeral parlour, Stuart looking on like a proud father, and Jay and Lola were cheering from where they were stood. Lola ran over then, and ran straight into Callum hugging him. Jay was laughing too, and wrapped an arm around Ben’s shoulders.

For maybe the first time since he’d lost his hearing, stood here with his family around him, and the cold pressure of the silver band around the finger, Ben Mitchell didn’t feel quite so alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Leo? Writing fluff? nEvEr- okay so idk how this happened, I gave in to my urge to write a quarantine fic after reading a lovely lil ficlet by calthighway on tumblr and then,,, I wrote,,, my longest one shot ever #noregrets   
> Anywaysss enjoy, stay safe, and ily!  
> Leo (@artsy-highway on tumblr if u wanna yell at me <3)


End file.
